"We’re at a moment in time when we have a great test ahead of us in terms of our relationship to the natural world. If we pass the test we get to keep the planet, but I don’t really see us doing a very good job of that right now. So my work isn’t really a crib note for that test; it’s not really the answers. It’s more like a notice of a bill past due, a kind of a grim perspective, because I really see the outlook as reasonably grim."